National Theatre Connections Festival 2026 For the past 31 years The National Theatre Connections Festival has been a celebration of young people, theatre and the importance of access to the arts. Each year the National Theatre commissions a collection of new plays for young people to perform, uniting some of the most exciting UK playwrights of today with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. Royal and Derngate are proud to host the largest and most diverse of the regional Connections festivals in the country, and we are thrilled to be welcoming hundreds of young people to Northampton again in April 2026 for what promises to be an exciting week of new writing packed with young talent. School groups and Youth theatres from across the region will perform in compelling new plays including Cloud Busting by Helen Blakeman, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth by Kirsty Housley, Sycamore Gap by Al Smith, Wildfire Road by Eve Leigh, The Animals by Sean Buckley, Fishville by Afsaneh Gray, and Royal & Derngate’s own Young Company will take part in the festival performing Britney’s Lock by Alexandra Wood Tuesday 21 April Sycamore Gap St Peter’s Catholic School 12pm in The Royal Wildfire Road Halesowen College 2pm in The Underground Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth Kettering Science Academy 5.30pm in The Royal Wednesday 22 April Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth Ousedale 11.30am in The Royal Sycamore Gap Alderbrook School 1pm in Underground...